FarmVille scams are out of control; Zynga can stop them with Goals

It seems that at least once a day a new FarmVille scammer emerges, and we're always here to report the news, spread the word in warning. Unfortunately, that's about where our powers of prevention stop. Admittedly, I am no security expert, so suggesting methods for either Zynga or Facebook to track and thwart these scam artists is beyond my knowledge. However, the creators of FarmVille have one tool to impede the scammers' progress: the game itself.

Thanks to the release of FrontierVille, there has not been a more powerful feature at the hands of Zynga: Goals. In fact, these series of requirements guiding players into new content have been incorporated into every one of its games since. Even the original FarmVille has seen its fair share of Goals. These Goals make themselves known before the player can even resume their daily routine of farming or city management.

It's been said that the ultimate prevention is education, and considering that stopping these scammers would be a job in itself, this is likely the best method to bring their impact to a screeching halt. Isn't this exactly what Goals do? They educate players in new ways to interact with features and content, most times without the player even realizing it. It's a brilliant method, really.

Zynga could easily create Goals detailing the dangers of News Feed scams and the like through all of its games. Of course, the Goals would have to be available to all players regardless of their progress. More importantly, they would have to be included in the first few levels of each for brand new players months from now to learn of the dangers of News Feed scams. Sure, some players are likely asking their computer screens, "How does fit in with the overall theme of the game?"

It doesn't nor does it have to. When is the last time the words "This doesn't fit with our theme" stop Zynga from introducing McDonald's to FarmVille? It sure didn't stop the company from adding a new building surrounding Intuit, the business website builder service to the game. (Not to mention a bear using a laptop within the loading screen.) So, somehow simulating a scam situation and tasking players with making the right moves to prevent its effects--and later spread--doesn't sound unreasonable.

How the Goals would look and play is entirely up to Zynga. In fact, this would be in the company's best interest, no? Surely the FarmVille scams have scared plenty of players away. Better yet, this would likely reduce call after call into Zynga customer support for something that's generally out of their control. But it doesn't have to be. Instead of releasing the next big feature, push it back and release some educational Goals--this is far more important than the next Crafting Building.